Jussie Smollett faces six new charges of lying to the police

Words: Steve Brown

Jussie Smollett faces six new counts of lying to police after claiming he was a victim of a racist and homophobic attack last year.

The Empire star claimed he was hospitalised following an attack in Chicago last year and said two white men tied a rope around his neck, poured a corrosive substance over him and made reference to President Donald Trump’s 2016 election slogan ‘Make America Great Again’.

Chicago Police later arrested two brothers, Ola and Abel Osundairo, who they claimed Smollett had paid $3,500 to stage the attack because he was unhappy with his salary on Empire.

However, Chicago Police Department and other authorities later accused the actor of staging the attack himself for publicity, in which Smollett had denied, and charges were dropped.

But now, the BBC report Smollett now faces six counts of disorderly conduct, special prosecutor Dan Webb said in a statement.

In his statement, Webb said he was going to further prosecute the actor.

Smollett was charged with ‘making four separate false reports to Chicago Police Department officers related to his false claims that he was the victim of a hate crime, knowing that he was not the victim of a crime,’ Mr Webb said.

He went on to say that his office have obtained ‘sufficient factual evidence’ to argue why prosecutors were wrong to drop the case last year.

Smollett will appear in court on February 24. The actor has also been sued by the city in a civil suit who are seeking payment of more than $130,000 (£100,000).